Mercado Livre is Latin America's biggest e-commerce marketplace. The platform hosts online stores of brands of all sizes: from one-person companies to global brands.

On Black History Month, Mercado Livre wanted to support and help boost the sales of brands owned by black entrepreneurs that use the platform to sell their products everyday. Those brands are, in the vast majority of cases, micro or small brands. The reason for that is the lack of incentive and opportunities from the government and Brazil's strong structural racism that prevent black men and women from thriving (and from seeing themselves) as successful entrepreneurs.

73% of all hip hop songs mention at least one brand. If that song is from a major artist, the sales from that brand usually go way up.

But even though rap and hip hop are rooted in the black community, all brands rappers mention in the lyrics are from big, global brands owned by white folks.

To give visibility to small black brands, Mercado Livre got together with Djonga and Tássia Reis, two of Brazil's biggest rap stars, to create a song and music video. But instead of Gucci, Balenciaga, Dior and such, they mentioned Soulbrio, ResistoOPM, Da minha Cor and other small local brands owned by black entrepreneurs.

In the music video, both artists wore clothes and accessories from those brands. When a brand was mentioned, a Youtube card redirected millions of viewers to a video featuring that brand's story and to their online store on Mercado Livre.

Djonga and Tassia Reis have 1.4 Billion plays/streams when combining Youtube and Spotify numbers. They are established artists who were also trending due to recent releases and mainstream appearances. So we knew a new song from them would be a hit, especially because it would be their first feat. ever. Besides, they are both very engaged socially and use their music as an outlet for their social ideas and positioning. They also have backgrounds in Brazilian favelas, just like most black entrepreneurs that try to make a living by creating their own businesses.

We also wanted that the song and music video had clear references to central and historical themes of the black people, so the whole community could feel represented while we gave visibility to black brands and their products.

First, we met with Feira Preta, a collective of small black brands that were already supported by Mercado Livre, to decide which brands were going to be mentioned in the lyrics. We also hired a Brazilian consultancy company specialized in the black community and their needs to understand if the idea could really make a difference for those brands and entrepreneurs.

After Djogna and Tassia created the song, we partnered with a black director to create the music video. We also filmed short documentaries with testimonials from the black entrepreneurs featured in the song, in which they told their stories and showcased more products.

The song and music video were released on the artist's Youtube, Spotify and Instagram pages, with supporting materials released on Mercado Livre social media.

The song was included in many official Spotify and Youtube Playlists.

Black Business Beats was praised for many reasons: for giving a new meaning to one of rap/hip hop culture's most classic traits, for representing black culture and history aesthetically and lyrically in a big production, for bringing together 2 hyped and beloved black artists for their first feat ever, and especially for giving small black brands unprecedented levels of visibility.

10 small black brands featured.

60% average increase in sales for each black business.

20+ million people reached.

1.2 billion impressions.

Song featured in 200+ Spotify playlists.

97% positive feedback.